Outdoor classroom blooms &mdash; and the public can pick pumpkins

Students from Little Chico Creek Elementary School gather to listen to Chico High freshman Maggie Hall talk about the parts of a pumpkin at the farm on Henshaw Avenue on Wednesday.(Frank Rebelo/Staff Photo)

CHICO — Somewhere among the tangled vines on Henshaw Avenue, you might just find that perfect pumpkin — or maybe a decorative pumpkin, or even an ugly pumpkin. You'll find a lot of pumpkins on Henshaw Avenue.

Saturday is the grand opening on the farm, which is tended by students from Chico High School FFA, the Chico Junior Farm Club and Fairview High School construction students.

For the big event, the students will offer a barbecue, face painting, hay rides and other pumpkin activities.

Then the farm will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Halloween.

Meanwhile, elementary students will visit the farm on Wednesdays for field trips that include education about working the land.

Ronnie Cockrell has worked with the student farmers for the past several years. The young agriculturists plant the seeds, move irrigation pipes, tend the plants, then open the doors for sales.

Shoppers can walk the rows themselves, or choose out a previously picked pumpkin.

The hope is that profits from the sales will help the project become self-sustaining. Also, students within the school district can take part, even if they are not part of a farming-related program.

This year a farm-to-school grant also means that food grown at the 10-acre property will be served as part of student lunch programs, Cockrell said.

Now in its fifth year, some students will be paid after contributing 60 hours to the project.

"It teaches them responsibility, where their food comes from and good farming practices," Cockrell said.

The process is long, from seed-to-stem, so it also teaches patience, he continued.

"We're getting some kids who did not grow up on a farm, never got dirty or worked a garden. Now they're thrown onto a 10-acre farm and asked to move irrigation pipe and pull weeds."

"Its an outdoor classroom."

To find the farm, go to West East Avenue, turn north on Alamo Avenue and west on Henshaw.